The Nerd Essentials Awards

I’m not really one for traditional GOTY awards, especially seeing as I’ve missed a few titles that I would’ve liked to play this year. That’s why I’ve taken a page from classic era Penny Arcade, and chosen a bunch of games that I really liked this year, and given them a We’re Right™ twist.

Without further ado, here are the winners of the first Nerd Essentials Awards:

Best Game of Just One More Level, I Can Do This:

Spectra features arcadey gameplay with the eponymous chiptunes album by Chipzel. The music is great, the visuals are appealing…And it’s one of those games where I suddenly found myself a few hours after I should’ve gone to bed. But seriously, I’ll just try to nail this level ONE MORE TIME, okay? Okay.

Best Game I Ragequit, But I Swear I’ll Finish It, Some Day:

Bloodborne is my first serious foray into FROM Software games. I’d tried out the first Souls game a few years ago, but it never really got me. The aesthetic of Bloodborne is just so damn awesome that I had to try it out. After some time, I’v only managed to take down 3 bosses. At the moment, I’m stuck on either the Blood Starved Beast, or Vicar Amelia. The worst part is, I can see that I keep dying to them because I’m impatient. I might contain myself for a while, but then I’ll rush in and get myself killed because I don’t have the patience. I’ll get back there and complete the game someday, though.

Best Non-David Cage, David Cage Game:

Until Dawn is perhaps one of my favorite game experiences this year. Great writing as a schlocky horror movie, great performances by the actors. I managed to save everyone but two in my first playthrough, and I still need to get a run where I save everyone as well as one where I do everything that horror tropes tells me I shouldn’t do. I could see this being a fun game to play with other people, too!

Best Game That Tricked Me Into Playing a Sports Game:

Rocket League came out this year, and being a PS+ subscriber, I got it for free. I checked it out, even though the concept seemed kind of dumb at first. Cue me suddenly finding out that it was the middle of the night, and wanting JUST ONE MORE MATCH. The game is on PC as well, and I fully intend to get it there some day (and hopefully convince some of my buddies to play it with me). This is also my pick for best quick-fix game of this year.

Best Early Access Game That I Use To Relax:

I’ve posted about Starbound before. There’s just something about it that gets me – the music is awesome, and the atmosphere is amazing. Starbound has been getting some significant updates this year, making it even more fun to play. I’ve put around 120 hours into Starbound since I bought it, and I haven’t even seen all that the Colony and the Combat updates have brought to the game.

Woke up an hour earlier than I planned on because #SonOfBarl0we doesn't acknowledge sleeping in on the weekend 😂
... On the bright side, I got him to fall asleep and got all my work done for today. So now my saturday is wide open 😎

8 months agoby NerdEssentialsExcelsior, true believers! I'm having a BLAST playing the Spider-Man game on PS4! The only problem is that photo mode; I keep goofing around, trying to get cool screenshots #spidermanps4#playstation#marvel